Strangelove wrote:^^^ I agree with what Dan is saying, but I'll add this: When your Vancouver Canucks win the Cup, your Vancouver Canucks fans will instantly become the most obnoxious trash-talking fans in all of Christendom.

Generally speaking of course.

Haha..very true. And that's when I couldn't give a shit...as long as we win the Cup, hey....

And Dan, I'm glad you're not one of those trolling Canucks fans but believe me, they're out there and there are a lot of them out there whether you'd like to believe that or not. Read the comments sections and message boards on common, neutral sites like TSN and you'll know (not that I bother). There is an astounding amount of arrogance. Again, I normally don't care especially if we're powered by a few Stanley Cups but we're not. For me I think it has less to do with being embarrassed by it than the fact that I kinda believe in karma and the more we spout out, well you know where I'm going...

Strangelove wrote:^^^ I agree with what Dan is saying, but I'll add this: When your Vancouver Canucks win the Cup, your Vancouver Canucks fans will instantly become the most obnoxious trash-talking fans in all of Christendom.

Generally speaking of course.

Haha..very true. And that's when I couldn't give a shit...as long as we win the Cup, hey....

And Dan, I'm glad you're not one of those trolling Canucks fans but believe me, they're out there and there are a lot of them out there whether you'd like to believe that or not. Read the comments sections and message boards on common, neutral sites like TSN and you'll know (not that I bother). There is an astounding amount of arrogance. Again, I normally don't care especially if we're powered by a few Stanley Cups but we're not. For me I think it has less to do with being embarrassed by it than the fact that I kinda believe in karma and the more we spout out, well you know where I'm going...

There are three times as many asshole fans of the Albertan teams. I don't even have to talkt about the Leaf fans.

What makes them so annoying is that they seem to think that thei wins from 20+ years ago make them a great team here and now. However, when they are confronted with a Habs fan who rubs their nose in it to the tune of 19 more Cups, well then those past victories of decades gone by mean jack shit all of a sudden. So then they go on about how great their team is going to be thanks to a decade plus of absolutely sucking, with an exceptionally lucky season where they got to the playoffs by having more OTL's than the team below them.....I still LMAO of at that. Then they went on a miracle run thanks to some good play by Horcoff, Smyth, Pronger, Hemesky, and Roloson (primarily the latter). Once they lost Rollie it wasn't even a contest. Of course the result of that was inflated contracts for Hemesky and Horcoff, both of whom proved to be busts.....Hemesky due to injury and Horcoff due to just sucking. But that means nothing because they drafted Gretzky and he set so many record with them, and Messier was the shit, and Fuhr, and Ranford, and Coffey.....blah blah blah. All of them left. Enough said.

As for this year I think the Oilers will actually make the playoffs. The shortened season is ideal for a team like theirs. Young, fast, ignorant/naive. They will come flying out of the gate and it will be Toronto and Edmonton who are the surprises again.....sound familiar? The Leafs will quickly falter, but the Oilers will probably be firing on all thrusters into late February, then the wheels will get wobbly as the really good teams find their groove, but Edmonton will hang around and play close to .500 hockey until April, then drop off, but finish with a strong last 10 days and make the playoffs. They will then get swept because they just aren't their yet.....especially if the league has indeed returned to the dead puck hockey of the 90's and early 00's.

The Oilers have great building blocks. Outstanding building blocks. But Building blocks are all they are right now. BUilding blocks that are going to really start costing them money soon preventing them from adding other good building blocks or forcing them to move a building block or two for different ones. I think they will be better but to be sure. The young guys will get better and even great. But right now I think that the bulk of the work for the team to be become a powerhouse has nothing to do with the youngsters on the ice but rather the GM and president of the Oilers. They are the ones that need to perform to build that team into a contender. Right now, I'm not convinced Tambi and Lowe can be those guys.

tantalum wrote: BUilding blocks that are going to really start costing them money soon preventing them from adding other good building blocks or forcing them to move a building block or two for different ones.

Hall and Eberle are now locked up long term, Nail is just starting his entry level deal, RNH and Schultz still have a year after this The Oilers have a boatload of contracts expiring over the next two seasons.

Lowe/Tambelini have an impressive blank slate to work with. Unfortunately it would mean moving to Edmonton.

tantalum wrote:The Oilers have great building blocks. Outstanding building blocks. But Building blocks are all they are right now. BUilding blocks that are going to really start costing them money soon preventing them from adding other good building blocks or forcing them to move a building block or two for different ones. I think they will be better but to be sure. The young guys will get better and even great. But right now I think that the bulk of the work for the team to be become a powerhouse has nothing to do with the youngsters on the ice but rather the GM and president of the Oilers. They are the ones that need to perform to build that team into a contender. Right now, I'm not convinced Tambi and Lowe can be those guys.

It's not the building blocks that are the problem in Edmonton - Hall, RNH and Eberle are close to point a game NHL players already. Yakupov looks like a good one but will take some time to get going, and Schultz as well.

Edmonton's issue is their supporting cast of veterans and other players - they have the worst supporting cast in the league, bar none. They are the reason that the Oilers have consistently been the worst or 2nd worst team in the league the past few years, not the kids.

Until Tambellini learns how to correct this they will still be awful. Fistric is an ok start, but they need a hell of a lot more than just him.

Diehard1 wrote:Until Tambellini learns how to correct this they will still be awful. Fistric is an ok start, but they need a hell of a lot more than just him.

hence the reason I said the GM and president (Tambi and Lowe) are the most important people in the organization starting now if they actually want to become first a playoff team and then a contender. The kids are the kids. They are good. They will, for the most part, develop into great core players. It's up to the management to stop looking for the number 1 pick overall and start doing things to get the 20th to 30th pick overall. If they don't it's only a matter of time before those ids get sick of waiting and start demanding to be moved.

To Topper:

Indeed they have a blank slate so to speak. But the cost of the young players in the next couple of years is going to eat significantly into that blank slate. They will need to fill out a roster of good bang for the buck veterans. They can't continue to waste money on the Horcoff's of the league. As above, it's why the success of the team has moved, IMO, completely from the realm of whether the kids to develop to do the Oilers have the management to put together the other 15 pieces for the team. Thus far, the record on that front has been woeful at best.

Speaking of expiring contracts they hold the rights of exactly one proven NHL defenseman after this year and none beyond next year.

Ladislav Smid is going to double his cap hit if he re-signs in Edmonton and there aren't really any high end defensemen (other than Edler) hitting the market this summer so even if they just wanted to replace Whitney, Sutton and Fistric with three guys of the Leopold/Lydman/Regehr/Scuderi/White/Murray calibre that'd probably mean doubling the cap hit on those three blueline spots as well.

That would leave them with Smid/Schultz/Schultz and three half-decent vets (assuming they spend wisely) on the blueline for upwards of $20m.